Many years have passed, yet parallax effects remain not just a popular trend in web design—they’re often essential. As a reminder, parallax is an animation technique where the background and foreground move at different speeds, even though the user scrolls with a steady pace. What they see on screen is an animation where two layers (sometimes more) move independently at varying speeds.

We covered parallax in detail before, with practical Photoshop examples, including how to test parallax magic yourself using just a monitor, a wall in your room, and a gel pen or pencil.

Today, however, we decided to dive back into the world of parallax effects and highlight some inverse and stunning variations used by web designers in various projects. And since the long May holidays have started, a bit of this visual energy and good mood certainly won’t hurt.

The Special Meaning of Parallax

The effect works well on any type of website, from online stores to real estate agencies, because it creates engaging user interaction. Visitors are more inclined to scroll through a long, visually appealing, informative page, while the site owner gets conversions, interest in services, and more. A great thing about parallax is that it doesn’t need to be used on every page. Typically, using it just on the homepage is enough to grab attention and guide users into exploring the inner content.

From a design perspective, parallax adds depth and a sense of space between elements. It makes the blocks feel like they’re floating in 3D space, almost as if the user is surrounded by the design itself—immersed in the layout. In other words, something magical and incredibly beautiful appears on the screen, and the user becomes a part of this wonder.

The only downside we've mentioned before: parallax doesn’t work well (or at all) on mobile devices. There are workarounds, which we’ll cover later. For now, let’s look at different parallax effects and styles used by web designers to give their sites a breathtaking look.

Animation for Transformation

If your content or design tells a historical story or shows transformation over time, parallax is a perfect fit. It can be used to animate layers across time, space, or location.

For instance, porschevolution chose to tell the story of a car model from 1930 to 2020. As the car's design evolves, so does the music, photography style, and more. The design activates only when the user scrolls the mouse wheel, in any direction. Content flows forward or backward accordingly—even the right soundtrack loads.

Another great example is sonance-audition where design uses parallax to change element positions. It's also used for site navigation and includes a subtle indicator showing where the user is on the page.

Scroll Me

Good content, clean design, and readable typography don’t always guarantee users will scroll to the end of the first page. You need to encourage that action—to maintain user interaction for a long time. The visitor must feel like scrolling is both necessary and purposeful.

To do this, designers often place a small scroll icon or menu links at the bottom of the screen—flashing arrows pointing down, up, or sideways, and other micro-interactions. On the cabletv site, for example, the homepage features a small arrow with the word “scroll,” and everything becomes self-explanatory. Parallax begins once the scrolling starts—blocks and elements move in different directions.

In fact, a comic-style animation effect can be even more engaging than typical parallax, because the user sees a narrative unfold as they scroll. Still, it’s parallax—just in disguise.

Color Movement

Color can move and shift too—and we’re not talking basic gradient blending. One of the more fascinating uses of parallax is when background or element colors change as layers move. This can be just for aesthetics, or to mark transitions into new sections or categories. Color changes naturally attract attention, encouraging users to keep exploring.

A great example is loisjeans —the background shifts from white to light pink, to a richer pink, then greenish-blue, and so on. Each color highlights part of the ad campaign, associating denim fashion with the elements of fire, water, air, and earth.

On werkstatt , designers use just two colors—white and gray. Parallax is visible between elements and text blocks. Hovering over a block changes its color. This combination of simple effects works well, especially since the site’s design is minimal. These effects draw users in without being overwhelming.

Simplifying Information

Parallax can also help simplify dense content, making text blocks more compact and easier to read and understand. It’s an interesting implementation—designers animate containers by type, not just move layers around.

A good reference is melaniedaveid . The site starts with a long intro about the blog author, with menu links on the left (for those who want to skip). The menu remains fixed while the text scrolls. Then a visual portfolio section appears with brief descriptions. It’s a great way to manage heavy text with limited visuals.

On the Le Duc restaurant website, each menu section appears as a separate block depending on what the user is reading and scrolling. The parallax animation is simple—a fish-themed background with text blocks moving through it. But the layout is so digestible that the “ugh, too much text” feeling disappears.

Reality Visualization

One of the most impressive uses of parallax in web design is visualizing content—helping users see what they’re reading. When combined with 3D objects, it can feel like stepping into another reality. Some projects go cartoonish, others offer VR experiences if devices are available.

A classic example is the Seattle Space Needle website. Users scroll upward to watch an elevator ride to the SkyCity restaurant and beyond—to the very top of the tower.

While scrolling, users see altitude markers, a navigation panel, and content pop-ups. There’s even background animation that shows the tower among real city buildings, making it feel grounded in the real world.

Overall, the design is educational and visually explains things that would be harder to convey with just text and images.

Another example is madwell where 3D elements and parallax animation blend. You don’t scroll—just move your cursor and watch the front layer react while the distant gray background stays static. It’s just a background, yet the result is elegant.

Creating Parallax

If you want to wrap your head around parallax and start using it in your own projects, the best place to start might be the Parallax Scrolling Demo which showcases every type of parallax effect. There’s also a brief technical article on w3schools about creating parallax with CSS. The example is simple, but with a bit of animation know-how, you can enhance the code.

Conclusion

Even though parallax effects are stylish, interesting, and visually striking , they’re not suitable for every site. It depends on the audience and type of content. If your goal is to attract lots of users—and many are on smartphones—it’s best to skip parallax and not create two versions of the site.

But if the client wants something visually stunning and isn’t aware of these details, you could try using parallax in a small area—like a header—and see how it performs. You could even add code that replaces parallax with a static image on mobile. Then just watch how much time users spend on that page. If time increases, they’re likely appreciating the effect.

Still, parallax should match your content and message. It should help users explore and interact. For example, it can work well on a finite homepage of an online store—just remember to offer a mobile-friendly version or app.

There are plenty of ideas and approaches—the real question is what your specific project truly needs. That’s why web designers always face a creative challenge: shaping visual beauty with purpose.